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Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).

According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.

He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.

Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.

He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left. Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.

"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."

...more at: Elk River Blues - full Score(s) and Annotations

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{SheetMusic
-|f_track=Bonnie Laddie Higland Laddie.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Highland Laddie.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=Pete Seeger Banjo.jpg
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Highland Laddie
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Highland_Laddie_(1)
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
 |f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/pete-seeger-official Pete Seeger]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= Way hay & away we go, Bonnie Laddie, Hieland Laddie.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=A version of the melody appears in the Drummond Castle Manuscript (in the possession of the Earl of Ancaster at Drummond Castle), inscribed "A Collection of Country Dances written for the use of his Grace the Duke of Perth by Dav. Young, 1734.
+|f_caption=According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life.
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/pete-seeger-official/bonnie-laddie-higland-laddie Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Highland_Laddie_(1) | '''Highland Laddie''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-Mention of the tune appears in the '''Gentleman's Magazine''' for 1750 that "The Highland Laddie written long since by Allan Ramsay, and now sung at Ranelagh and all the other gardens; often fondly encor'd, and sometimes ridiculously hiss'd," for, as Emmerson (1971) points out, the rising of 1745 of Bonnie Prince Charlie was fresh in the minds of many at the time.
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-However, by the end of the century that memory had dimmed to the extent that Gow noted in his '''Repository''' (Part Second, 1802) "The Quick step (sic) of the gallant 42nd Regiment (The Royal Highlanders, or, more popularly, The Black Watch). It was performed when the Regiment was reviewed by His Majesty at Ashford, May 7, 1802.
+According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.
-David Murray ('''Music of the Scottish Regiments''', Edinburgh, 1994, p. 178) writes: "A journalist at the 1845 Queen's Birthday Parade commented that the Scots Guards marched past to 'The national, but mediocre melody 'Will ye go to Inverness?'-there are several versions of the song-and he compared it unfavorably with the splendid music played by the Coldstream Guards.
+He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.
-The same, it must be said, holds good today. Consisting as it does of two simple eight-bar phrases, each repeated, 'Highland Laddie' can become monotonous when, for instance, a battalion in column or route has to be played past." Still, it has the ability to stir: a piper led the British invasion of Normandy's Sword beach playing the "Highland Laddie."
+Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.
-It is still played on ceremonial occasions. In the 19th century "Highland Laddie" was the march-past in quarter-column of all the Highland regiments in the British army<ref>Walter Wood, "The Romance of Regimental Marches", '''Pall Mall Magazine, vol. 9''', 1898, pp. 421-430.</ref>.
+He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left.  Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.
+"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."
 }}